From Now On, I Promise To Love You Forever
by STARR9781
Summary: Victoria Volcov has lived in a battle field for a home with a dominant father that brought his work home, and not in good way. Now she has been chosen by Nyx and is another odd child with a silver mark.She tries to adjust to the weird world,keep her family from falling apart and keep herself intact and gets help from a special guy who she never planned on engaging. Better story.
1. Chapter 1

"For God's sake, Victoria, it was just one kiss!" Aaron yelled to me as I walked down the street towards my house, which was about fifteen miles from his friend's house, where his birthday party was still going on, but I'd rather walk forever than stay here or drive with him. "You're not honestly about to walk home, are you?"

"Yep. I am."

"Oh, c'mon, Vicky! You're over-reacting!" I stopped and turned to him angrily before stalking to him.

"I'm _over_-_reacting_?"

"Yes. Per usual."

"Oh, I'm sorry if I got just a little pissed off because my supposedly loving and loyal boyfriend is going around kissing other girls in front of me. I'm terribly sorry, Aaron! Terribly sorry!" I turned back around and continued my stride.

"Okay, so I kissed a couple girls. So what! It's my birthday! I should be able to do what I want for just one day!" I smiled and turned back to him.

"You're right, Aaron. You should be able to do what you want. And you can actually do whatever you want all the time because you're now officially single." I took out the key to his house that he gave me a year ago and tossed it at him along with the ring and necklace he gave me. "Happy fucking birthday, asshole! May all your fucking wishes come true." I turned back around and walked away. It was exactly midnight. Awesome. It's dark and late and I have like 50 more blocks to walk before I'm even _close_ to home. I rolled my eyes and pulled out my phone to see who I could call. A car slowed beside me and I sighed. Great. I'm about to get raped and killed by some lonely psycho then dumped in a gutter or a river somewhere near the border of Mexico.

"Stop contemplating how you're about to get killed, Vicky, and get in the car." I looked and saw my best friend Conner. I grinned and shook my head.

"You know me so well. And I'm fine. Go ahead back to the party." He rolled his eyes and shook his head with a sigh.

"Victoria, stop tryna be such a badass and get in the car before someone really does come and kill us both." I smiled and walked to the car. He stretched over and opened the door for me before helping me in. We rode in silence, listening to _Lithium_ by _Nirvana_.

"So, how'd you know I was gone?"

"I saw you arguing inside, then I saw you leave out with your stuff. I waited a little while to see if you'd come back with him like you always do, but you didn't. So, I came after you because you're stupid enough to walk fifteen miles just to prove a point."

"I'm so done with him." He scoffed and I looked over at him. "What? I am done."

"That's pure bullshit, Victoria. You say that now, but tomorrow you'll be back together again, like always." I looked at him in shock.

"That's not true."

"Yes it is. You always do this and guys have fallen for it every single time. No doubt some poor soul at the party is plotting how he's gonna woo you this time around, praying to the God or Goddess above that you stay single long enough for him to make his move." I rolled my eyes and gave him a look.

"Yeah right. If that's so true, then how come you stopped falling for it?"

"Easy. I'm your smart best friend. I notice things. I see all you do. And I've drawn a pattern of everything." I rolled my eyes again and scoffed.

"I wouldn't say all of that─"

"Yeah, because you know I'm 100% right," he said with an edge. I looked at him, confused and a little on edge myself.

"What's with all the hostility?"

"You. All these games you play. You've broken a lot of hearts, Vicky, and you know what the worst part is? You don't care!"

"Well, if I'm that much of an evil person, why do you bother hanging with me all the time?"

"I don't know! Maybe I should stop!"

"Maybe you should! Pull over." He obeyed and I got out the car.

"What're you doing?"

"Going home. I'll walk. You seem like you have some major problems that you need to work out."

"Wait, Vicky, you can't walk home. What the hell are you doing? Get back in the car and stop being such a bitch." He grabbed my arm as I reached for my bag on the floor and I looked at him like he'd lost his mind.

"I don't know who the hell you think you're talking to, but I do know you need to let me go right now before I break your arm off." He released me, knowing I wasn't joking. My father, Czar, is a retired stone cold assassin. Now he owns a self-defense facility where he teaches fighting mechanisms and has his own company that none of us know of because he never talks about it and he doesn't need us to know, and if it's unnecessary for him, then it won't happen. All I know is that he's a master sword maker like the Japanese guy from _Kill Bill Vol. 1_. I live with him, so I get taught the stuff automatically because he brings his work home. He usually uses those mechanisms on my older brother, Adrian, who then tries them on me, which means I need to know how to fight back or I'll die. It's like the wild in my house. You can only survive by fighting back. Hard. Oh, by the way, I'm Victoria Volcov. And yes, I'm a Russian. Well, Russian and Hawaiian. My mother, Iolana, is Hawaiian and fell in love with my dad when he was trying to kill her brother in Hawaii. Magic love story, huh? Just warms your heart. I look like a mixture of the two, too. I have tanned olive skin, courtesy of my mother, striking silver eyes, courtesy of my father, a nicely fit and curved 5'7'', courtesy of my mother and father─−curves from my mom, muscle and tone from my dad's constant need to keep Adrian and I fit─−and wavy sandy brown hair, courtesy of somebody along the line. Anyways, I have to live with a deadly, over-protective Russian asshole for a dad, an annoying son of a bitch for a brother and a love sick, submissive, wimp for a mother. Just the purely perfect family, right. I started walking down to my house again in the cool September Tulsa air in only a pair of black shorts, a dark pink tank top, a pair of black ankle boots with a thick heel and a thin black blazer. I heard footsteps behind me and I turned to see some tall guy with pale skin that was also kinda tanned, shiny black hair and midnight blue eyes. Well, at least I'll be killed by a hottie. "Oh great. Look, if you're gonna kill me, can you make it fast because I have had a horrible night and I really don't feel like dealing with a bunch of talking and threats like Freddy Krueger."

"Um…okay. I'm not here to kill you." Sexy voice on a tall hottie. Awesome.

"Then what do you want?"

"Goddess, why can't I ever do this stuff right," he said to himself as he came closer. He was under a street light now and I could see him clearly, including the big sapphire crescent on his forehead and the intricate swirls around his face.

"Wait. Are you a vampyre?"

"Can you just…let me finish?" he said with an edge to his tone, like he was frustrated. I lifted up my hands and raised an eyebrow.

"_Sorry_." He sighed and thought for a second before finishing his statement.

"Victoria Volcov, Nyx has chosen you." Then he lifted up his arm and pointed at me and my forehead suddenly burned.

"Are you done now?" He nodded, staring at me shocked. "So, I'm guessing I have one of those blue crescents on my head now, right?"

"No. What the hell happened?"

"Well, I don't know! It's your job to tell me!"

"Well, you have a mark, which is a good thing. It's just…not blue. It's silver. Goddess what did I do?" Wow. He's really beat up about this.

"Okay, sir, chill out. Alright. I'm the one that may be about to explode, not you. So relax. I'm pretty sure it's just some weird vampyre shit that can easily be worked out." He looked at me and nodded.

"Right. Just Nyx working her weird ways. Right. Okay. Um…I don't…"

"So, what do I do now?"

"Oh! Right. Um…so, now you have to attend the House of Night here in Tulsa. So, you go home, say goodbye to your family and pack all your stuff then get someone to drive you to the House of Night tomorrow night….or tonight. Whichever you choose."

"Okay, uh, sir─"

"Erik."

"What?"

"My name is Erik. Erik Night."

"Okay, then. Erik, about that, nobody's gonna drive me there, so, if I don't go, I die, right?" He nodded and I pursed my lips. "Thought so. So, could I just go back with you tonight."

"Uh, that's gonna be a little complicated. See, I didn't drive here."

"Yeah, you used some type of vampyre magick, I know. But can you just get me there tonight, too. Nobody is gonna take me there, and I'd rather not die so stupidly." He looked really torn and he was really stressing over all this. "You know what, never mind. You're really stressing about this whole thing and I'm not making it easy for you. So, I'll just find a way to get there myself." I turned and started walking down the street again. Now, how in the hell am I gonna not only tell my meathead dad all this, but also convince him to drive me to this vampyre school _tonight_?

"Wait!" I turned and he was jogging down the street after me. "Okay, I'll take you with me tonight. As long as you trust me."

"Dude, I don't even know you. How do you expect me to trust you?"

"Touché. Okay, you just have to trust that I won't drop you." I shrugged.

"Alright. Fine. Let's go. My house is a few miles down."

"Miles? You're about to walk home?" I nodded. "Okay, change of plans. Get on my back and trust that I won't drop you." I looked at him like he'd lost his mind.

"What are you tal─"

"Look, just _do it_." I held up my hands and did what he told me to do. "Okay. Hold on tight." Then we were moving at an unimaginable speed. It was the scariest and coolest thing I'd ever seen in my entire life. But, it is _not_ something I ever want to do ever again. I climbed down off his back as we stood in front of my house. I didn't bother to ask how he knew where I lived because he knew my name, too, so it didn't even matter at this point.

"Okay, before we go in, I'm warning you now, my house is like the wild." He looked worried and looked up at my house. I walked up the driveway and to the front door. All was silent except for the TV, which is not a good sign. "Here we go." I opened the door and walked three steps before my brother launched himself at me. Good thing I was prepared. I punched him in the chest and throat, sending him crashing into the dining room table. My father came out of nowhere─−6'5'' and pure muscle of 200 pounds─−and grabbed my hair and somehow locked my arms and got me to the ground.

"What did I tell you about this hair? It must always be tied tight because what?" his booming voice yelled.

"It can be used to the enemy's advantage!" I yelled. "But what did I tell you about repeating the same pattern and speech?" I kicked his foot and locked his leg, sending him falling backwards and he pulled me with him. I elbowed his ribs and heeled his calf before lifting my head and slamming it back down into his face. He released me and Adrian came up and swung his leg around and knocked me back down before leaping on me. I hit his pressure point and kneed him somewhere near his groin, but it was just as painful because he bucked and rolled off of me. Then there was my dad again. He grabbed my arm and bent my wrist before pulling my arm behind my back and knocking the back of my legs so my knees buckled and I hit the ground. I shot my leg up to his groin and planted my foot there for two seconds before slamming it into it, forcing him to let me go. Adrian was still on the ground, but my dad got back up and came after me. "Dad, I have to tell you something!" He ignored me and swung at me, but I ducked and kicked him in the throat in one swift motion that sent him to the ground. He started to get back up, but I stomped on his torso then throat. "Listen to me!" He looked up at me and I pointed to my forehead. His silver eyes widened and Adrian came up behind me and grabbed me, locking my arms down and lifting me off of my dad, most likely crushing my ribs.

"Stop." One booming word and Adrian sat me down. I was on my hands and knees and my dad was walking towards me. He grabbed my arm and lifted me up so we met eye to eye. He looked at my forehead and at the crescent mark before dropping me. "What the hell is that?" he asked angrily. I coughed, needing a lot of oxygen fast if I planned on living. He growled and walked to the couch, grabbed my inhaler, and tossed it at me. The little gold pump was the most beautiful sight right now because it was going to save me from an asthma attack. I pumped three shots of air before standing up and looking at him.

"You know what it is."

"So you're a fucking vampyre now?" he yelled.

"No, it's just a permanent tattoo," I said sarcastically with an eye roll. He was about to swing and I prepared myself, but he stopped as he looked over my shoulder. I kept my eyes on him, but I knew he was looking at Erik. My mother walked in from the kitchen and glanced around at everything before looking at me. Her black eyes widened just as my dad's had and she looked at Erik then back at me.

"Oh, Nani," was all she said. She always called me my middle name, Nalunani, because that's what she originally wanted to name me. But my dad wanted my name to be Victoria after his killed sister, so that's what I was named. I actually like Nalunani better because it's more warming and reminds me of the pretty blue ocean back in Honolulu. We lived there for my first 5 years before my father shipped us back to his home in Siberia. We haven't been back since and we just recently came to Tulsa about six months ago so my dad could set up his company and everything.

"Who the hell are you?" my father asked.

"Erik Night, from the House of Night. I'm here to take Victoria back to the House of Night to be properly taken care." Wrong choice of words, Erik. My dad stepped around me and towards Erik slowly.

"Properly taken care of? Are you saying I'm not properly taking care of her? You think I don't know how to raise my daughter?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that you don't know how to raise a _vampyre_. And if she doesn't go to the House of Night around those who _do_ know how to take care of her, then she _will_ die." My father was about to hit him, but I kicked his pressure point─−which he has an extra of in his calf─−stopping him from his action.

"If you would just stop being such an ass and listen to what he's saying, you might understand what's going on!" I said to him before looking at Erik. "You don't have to explain to him. Go tell my mother over there." She stood off to the side with her hand over her mouth, gazing at the scene taking place. Erik walked around my dad and went over to my mother. They went into the kitchen and I punched Adrian. He looked at me and I nodded in our father's direction. "Make sure he doesn't do anything. I gotta go pack." He nodded and I walked upstairs to my room. It wasn't much in my room because I didn't want anything broken from one of the little fights. My clothes were still in boxes from us moving and so were my little knickknacks and pictures from Honolulu and Siberia. So, I was set with everything I strictly needed and wanted. I walked downstairs with two boxes and told Adrian to get the other three. Erik had finished explaining to my mother and now sat in the kitchen just talking. My father was in the living room glowering at the TV. I sat my stuff down and walked into the kitchen, leaning on the door frame and folding my arms, just watching my mom laugh and smile. Erik glanced up at me and so did my mom and she stood.

"Oh, Nani, he is such a lovely_ keiki_. And handsome, too," she said with an edge and a wink. I rolled my eyes and smiled before walking over to her and hugging her.

"I love you, mom." She hugged me back tightly.

"I love you, too, _ipo_. Be good and stay out of trouble." I hugged her tighter and moved close to her ear. "I'm coming back for you. Don't worry," I whispered. She nodded and started crying before letting me go. I looked at Erik. "Let's go. We need a car."

"Oh, take mine, Nani." I shook my head. "No. Aaron said we could take his car." She smiled and Adrian came back downstairs. "Are you gonna help me carry these to the car, big brother?" He shrugged and walked to the door. After a long goodbye from my mother and a death promise to my father if he does anything remotely dangerous to my mother's health or safety, Erik and I followed Adrian out down the street to Aaron's silver Corvette Stingray Concept sitting all shiny and new in front of his empty house. Good thing I kept the key to it. We stacked everything into the trunk and I grabbed Adrian by his shirt. "If he does anything; if he tries to include my mother in this stupid fucking fighting shit, you call me and let me know. If he hits her or tries to, let me know. Do you understand?" He stared at me for a while before nodding. "Promise me you'll protect her."

"I swear on my life, I'll die before I let him hurt her." I nodded and hugged him before punching him and getting into the car. Erik sat silently staring straight ahead as I started the car. I looked at him and waited for him to say something, but he never did. He turned to me and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Well?" I said loudly, getting irritated.

"What?"

"Well, I don't actually know where I'm going."

"Oh! Right. Uh, I'll drive." I rolled my eyes and he opened the door.

"No, no. that'll take too long. Here, just…I'll climb over and you climb under." He looked at me like I'd lost my mind. "Come on!" He obeyed and started moving so I could climb over. He switched to the other side and almost busted his head against the window. "Aren't vampyres supposed to be super graceful and smart?" He ignored my comment and started driving.

"So…does that whole…uh…fighting thing…happen a lot?"

"Yep. About six times a day at the least."

"Why? I have never seen anything like that. I heard of tension and all between the father and kids and of yelling, but serious fighting like _that_ has never been inducted."

"My father was in a business where he needed to do all of that times ten, and he brought his work hoe and taught my brother, who then started trying to fight me and I had to learn the stuff and be good at it, or I'd die. There's no mercy. There's no time out. You keep fighting until someone loses."

"But, why? Why do all of that?"

"Because that's his way of showing us he cares."

"And you believe he does?" he asked loudly, shocked.

"Yeah. He just has a horrible way of showing it." We rode on in silence.

"That's not utter parental care, Victoria."

"I know. But…there's no other way to classify it without making it a bad thing, so that's what we call it. And that's what it is to us." And that was the end of the discussion.

**Alright R&R**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ooookay! Long time, no read. I apologize. I've basically been bouncing back and forth between Siberia and Baltimore and it's really weird, but whatever. Anyways, I'm here to stay for the summer and I should be writing lots, so, yaaaaay! Read on now...Oh, and feel free to ask any questions if things aren't 100% clear to you.**

"Merry meet, Professor Night. Did you find the girl okay?" a woman asked. Wow she's beautiful. Uber tall with and graceful with black hair pulled up and styled neatly. I smiled at her from behind Erik and she smiled back. I now know my beauty goal for my adult years. To be as beautiful and graceful as she is. As much fighting that I do, it's a wonder that I haven't grown facial hair, broad shoulders and a penis, let alone still extremely girl-like-looking. "Hello, dear. Merry meet." I looked at Erik in question and he fisted his hand over his heart and bowed before repeating her words. Oh. This is the greeting. A simple 'Hey, what's up?' would work just as effectively, but whatever. I copied him and stood back up properly, meeting the woman's pleased smile and gaze.

"I'm Victoria Volcov."

"Yes, I know you well, child. I am Thanatos, member of the High Council and new High Priestess of the Tulsa House of Night." Wow. She's got one hell of a bio. "Come child, we will get you all settled in. Professor Night, you may return back to your class. It just started." Professor? Class? The dude looked about 18. I glanced at him as he looked back and forth between us. Or 19. Yeah. 19 is good.

"Oh, I was going to stay with Victoria, you know, just in case there are any problems or anything with the mark." Thanatos looked me over, obviously having seen my apparent odd mark.

"Do you feel well, Victoria?"

"Yes. I'm fine. You can go to your…_class_, _Professor_ Night." He grinned and walked out. Thanatos led me to my new room, I got all settled in and everything before going to my fifth period class, and it's 1:17 am. Apparently, vampyres actually live opposite humans. School is at night and we sleep during the day. This is going to take some getting used to. But Thanatos assigned me a mentor that I have to meet later named Stark, and apparently, we're supposed to have a lot in common. That's why she chose him for me, she said. Otherwise, I would have a female mentor. I walked into my class, which is drama, taking place in the auditorium. It was huge, and very impressive. And at the moment, completely full of students, mostly girls, that all turned to me upon my entrance. Why are there so many people interested in drama? Then I noticed who the teacher was. Erik. No wonder so many girls were suddenly so interested in drama. Erik has to be one of the hottest things walking the planet. He was also watching me and smirked a little. I walked in and sat down and he continued with whatever he was talking about. I honestly wasn't paying much attention. Once the class was over I stood and started getting my few doodles together.

"Do you not like drama?" Erik asked from behind me. I glanced at him with furrowed eyebrows. "Wow. You didn't even jump."

"Did you not just witness what my house is like? And that's only on a good day. I have no room to be afraid and my senses have keened to a level entirely too high, even for an immortal. And I never said I didn't like drama."

"You didn't have to. Actions speak much louder than words."

"What did I do?" He picked up one of the papers I'd doodled on with a smile.

"You've been drawing for the last 45 minutes." I shrugged.

"No, it's not my first choice, but I can tolerate it."

"Tolerate?"

"Acting…it just isn't my thing. I'm a realist with very little imagination, so acting doesn't really …_covet_ me. I had stage fright as a kid, so I never got on one unless absolutely, 100% necessary. Don't worry. There's no offense to you. I'll get transferred out and everything will be okay." He looked like he wanted to protest, but didn't say anything.

"What's your next class?"

"Umm…" I looked down at my schedule and sighed. "Lunch."

"Good. Come down here on stage for a second. I wanna show you something."

"Why should I as opposed to eating?"

"You don't have anyone to sit with for starters. Secondly, this'll be beneficial for you and third I'll get you food in a second." Good points. I shrugged and followed him down to the stage. "Okay, take this," he said handing me a paper with scene lines on it. I looked at the name and cocked my head at him, giving him a look of irritation.

"Hamlet? Seriously? Not only is this acting, which again isn't my thing, but this is _Shakespeare_. I can't act, Erik. There's no way around it." He rolled his eyes and picked up a paper himself.

"Just try it, Victoria. If you're as horrible as you say, I'll help you transfer from the class. If not, you have to sit up here right in front of me and actually pay attention." I thought it over then nodded.

"Fine. Deal. Just don't be upset when I'm proven right."

"Alright. And could you actually try to become the character instead of just reading the lines? Try."

"Okay. Let's get this over with. Who am I?"

"Ophelia. And I am Hamlet. Just…if you can't do it, feed off of my energy. That should be enough to fuel even someone who has nothing but abhorrence for acting."

"I never said−─"

"Actions. They speak louder than words." I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"Alright alright. Let's do this. Go."

"_Lady, shall I lie in your lap?" _

" _No, my lord." _

" _I mean, my head upon your lap?" _

" _Ay, my lord." _

"_Do you think I meant country matters?" _

" _I think nothing, my lord." _

" _That's a fair thought to lie between maids' legs." _

" _What is, my lord?" _

"_Nothing." _

"_You are merry, my lord." _

" _Who, I?" _

" _Ay, my lord." _

" _O God, your only jig-maker. What should a man do but be merry? For, look you, how cheerfully my mother looks, and my father died within's two hours." _

" _Nay, 'tis twice two months, my lord." _

"_So long? Nay then, let the devil wear black, for I'll have a suit of sables. O heavens! Die two months ago, and not forgotten yet? Then there's hope a great man's memory may outlive his life half a year: but, by'r lady, he must build churches, then; or else shall he suffer not thinking on, with the hobby-horse, whose epitaph is "'For, O, for, O, the hobby-horse is forgot.'"_ He's really good. No, Erik's better than good. He's absolutely amazing. I felt as if he really was Hamlet. So passionate and into the stuff. "Then the actors come in and act out the scene. Okay, now go."

"_What means this, my lord?" _

"_Marry, this' miching mallecho; it means mischief. _

"_Belike this show imports the argument of the play. We shall know by this fellow: the players cannot keep counsel; they'll tell all."_

"_Will he tell us what this show meant?" _

"_Ay, or any show that you'll show him: be not you ashamed to show, he'll not shame to tell you what it means." _

"_You are naught, you are naught: I'll mark the play."_ He checks the paper and acknowledges the prologue before continuing. _"Is this a prologue, or the posy of a ring?" _

" _'Tis brief, my lord." _

"_As woman's love."_ I looked away from him and sat the paper down, then began straightening the others, anything to keep from looking at him.

"So? How'd I do?"

"You were amazing. You need a little work on your confidence and everything, but that's normal. You're a natu−─"

"Don't say it."

"What?"

"That I'm a natural. I'm not. I have no imagination and am no good at acting. Well, then again, I was capable of hiding and lying about the fact that my father's a freaking psychopath, but I guess that may just be natural. Now _that_, I can do. _That_ I'm really a natural at." He stared at me for a while then laughed a little.

"Are you always this negative about yourself?"

"What?"

"I'm just curious. Do you always bring yourself down so low?" I furrowed my eyebrows and hopped off the stage.

"I'm going to go get something to eat," I said, walking back up the stairs.

"Wait, I'll walk with you."

"That's fine. I think I'm capable of walking to the cafeteria without getting lost," I scoffed.

"What if something bad happens?" he says, appearing in front of me, probably having used his vampire speed thing.

"I'm a big girl, Professor Night. I'm pretty sure I can handle myself." He grabbed my arm lightly, and I grabbed his wrist tightly, twisted it and pushed him in the chest before knocking him to the ground by knocking my foot into his calves. He stared up at me in shock and my eyes were widened a little. "I'm sorry," I whispered, helping him up.

"No, it's fine. I shouldn't have touched you." I nodded in agreement.

"You can't do stuff like that. I have space issues. Do not enter my space." He nodded.

"Touché." I stared at him then sighed.

"Come on. I don't know where the cafeteria is anyways." He smiled a little then led the way out.

"You may get to meet your roommate."

"Roommate?"

"Yeah. Everyone has a roommate…unless they request not to have one or their roommate doesn't go through the change."

"The change. Is that why your crescent is filled in and mine isn't?"

"Yeah."

"Is that why you're also a teacher?" I asked with a smirk and he nodded. "How old are you anyways?"

"19."

"Figured. Alright. So…a 19 year old teacher who is absolutely amazing on stage and is 100% hot is in Tulsa instead of Hollywood because…?"

"I'm…I'm actually not really sure. Of course I thought about it, but I never got around to it. I guess all the craziness that was taking place sorta messed with my logic and tangled my thoughts."

"Craziness?"

"Long story. I'll tell you later if no one beats me to it." I looked at him when he said that, wondering why he thought there'd be a "later". Yeah, I'm in his class, but that's not a time to tell everybody to shut up while he told me the infamous House of Night nightmare. So he obviously meant outside of class. He looked at me. "What?" I shook my head and turned forward again.

"So…this roommate. Do you know her name?"

"Aneesa. Aneesa Achari. She's from Bangladesh. You'll like her. She's really nice." I nodded as we entered what _had_ to be the cafeteria. There were vampyres _everywhere_, not that I expected anything else. It looked kinda like a normal high school cafeteria. Well, except that this one looked like it was meant for a rich banquet. Fancy stuff all around. "Here comes Shaylin. You'll like her." I looked and saw a girl skipping over to us.

"Hi, Erik." She looked at me and smiled bright. "Hi, I'm Shaylin," she said,, extending her hand to me. I hesitated, but shook it and smiled a little.

"Victoria."

"You're new, right?" I nodded and she smiled. "I like you." I looked at Erik, a little weirded out. "Her color is bright. It's white, kinda like a diamond flashing, with a lot of yellow around it. There's some blue in there, too."

"Sorry. Shaylin tends to speak out of thought without wondering if anybody understands. She can see auras of people. Of the soul. Tells basically if you're bad or good."

"I haven't 100% figured out what they all mean, though. But the yellow definitely means good. And the bright white. The blue is a little confusing. Like a contrast. It's really dark." She smiled again, sucked from her thoughts and looked over her shoulder. "You can sit with us if you want. There's always room for more people."

"Uh…sure, I guess." She beamed and grabbed my hand, leading me to a table full of people. They all looked up upon our appearance and smiled.

"Hi, Shaylin. We were just asking about you," a pretty girl with short curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes said.

"Hey, guys. This is Victoria. She's new and obviously a weirdo like us." I looked down at her with furrowed eyebrows.

"Weirdo?"

"She's talking about your mark. It means something different," a pretty girl that looked like an African goddess said. "I'm Shaunee."

"Hi. Yeah, Erik was really stressing about this whole silver mark thing. Will it kill me or something?"

"Nah. You should be alright," a guy with blondish brown hair said. "I'm Stark. You're Russian?"

"Yes. Well, Russian and Hawaiian. But I lived in Siberia basically my whole life."

"When did you move to Tulsa?" a pretty pale girl with midnight hair and eyes said. She was curled up with Stark. Aw. Cute.

"About six months ago."

"Wow. Not even a year here and already you're sucked into the House of Night," a drop dead gorgeous, but extremely sarcastic blonde girl said.

"That's Aphrodite and Darius. Over there's Damien, here's Stevie Rae and Rephaim. That's Zoey with Stark. Ant, Johnny B, Kramisha…" she went on introducing everyone and we all greeted each other before I finally sat down with a slice of pizza.

"So, Victoria, why'd you leave Siberia?" Stevie Rae asked. I shrugged.

"My father wanted change. He moved us from Honolulu when I was only 5. No one ever asks why he moves us anymore. We just…go. Not without attitude and back talk, of course, but that does not affect him. He is stubborn."

"You didn't want to leave?"

"Honolulu, no. Then to go from a beautiful tropical and tranquil place that was really always warm to cold, snowy Siberia is a drastic change."

"Well, you got a cute accent out of it. So thumbs up for that," Damien said, sticking up his thumbs, to which I just smiled.

"Thank you."

"What class do you have next?" Shaylin asked. I pulled out my schedule and skimmed it.

"Vampyre Sociology." She frowned a little, which must mean we wouldn't be in class together.

"I have that next," Stark said. "What's your exercise for last period?"

"I don't have one. They gave me an open option. Kinda like an elective, I guess," I said with a shrug. Shaylin was smiling along with a few others around the table. "What?"

"You…you say what we say, but your accent makes it sound so different and just a _little_ funny," Damien answered. I rolled my eyes and smirked a little.

"Oh, whatever. You just said it was cute."

"It's adorable. But it still sounds funny," Shaunee said with a shrug as she stood as well as Stark.

"I guess I can deal with that. Is it time to go?"

"Yeah. We have to go to the other building for Vamp Soc. We should go now if we're gonna get there on time without rushing." I nodded and stood.

"See you, Victoria. Nice meeting you," Stevie Rae said with a big grin. Everyone else waved and said goodbyes before I followed Stark out of the cafeteria.

"So how do you like it here so far?"

"In Tulsa in general or at the House of Night?"

"Either or."

"The school is alright. I haven't been here long. I only got to go to Drama 101 then lunch. And Tulsa…Tulsa is very interesting. It is different from my country. Very different."

"Do you like Siberia better than America?"

"In a way. It was not the best place, I guess, but it was home. I had friends…family." We walked into another building, talking low as we entered our classroom for Vampyre Sociology. The teacher used to be the High Priestess of the House of Night, Neferet, but she apparently went total psycho bitch and skipped out after releasing an immortal from underground and trying to kill everyone and start a gigantic war between humans and vampyres or some weird shit. The class was pretty insightful. We were talking about the history of vampyres and the High Council and little instances of other events went into the lecture, too. Afterwards, it was the elective exercise class and Stark and I semi-parted ways. I chose two: archery and tai-kwan-doe. I'm good at both. Growing up with an assassin as a father has its pros and cons. For instance, you learn to kill someone within 10 seconds with your bare hands or you'd never have to be afraid of someone breaking in and hurting anyone. When we first moved here from Siberia, someone broke into our house. The man is still in a coma to this day. I did tai-kwan-doe for about 15 minutes before moving on to archery. I set up my bow and arrow and angled it at a tree. Nature no longer made their morning noises. All was still. I imagined the big oak was my father and I thought of all he's done and all he's said before releasing the arrow and sending it into the tree where I pictured my father's head. I continued with shooting at lightning speed, one after one, then two at a time, then four.

"Nice wor−─" I turned quickly and kicked whoever was speaking right in the jaw. I positioned myself to finish the attack, but saw it was Erik.

"Gosh, sorry. I'm sorry. Don't sneak up on me like that." He lifted up and moved his jaw but winced. "Don't do that. Here. Let me fix it. You're just gonna cause unnecessary pain doing that." I knelt in front of him and lightly touched his jaw. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I guess," he said, his jaw making his words sound weird.

"Alright. Now, I must warn you, this will hurt like _hell_. Okay?" He nodded and I smirked a little. He had no idea how bad this would hurt. "Ready?" He nodded again and I pushed his jaw back in place with my knuckles _hard_. Probably harder than necessary, but he _did_ scare the hell out of me, and I don't like being scared. He yelled out in pain immediately after, screaming every profanity word known to man. I just knelt there and watched. He's kinda hot when he's mad. He's not one to get all bright red or anything. He just looks feral, but not in an 'I'm gonna kill you' way, but in an 'I'm so fucking pissed I'd fuck the shit out of you' way. Shrug. That's just my opinion. When he calmed down, he held his jaw and glared at me. I shrugged. "Sorry." I stood and helped him up.

"Women these days. You give one a compliment and boom! They kick you in the jaw. It's a sad, sad world we live in."

"You didn't even−─"

"I was about to. You kicked me in the jaw when I tried." I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"I apologize, Professor Night. Is there _anything_ I could possibly do to make it better?" I said in a sweetie-pie voice with one finger nail slightly in my mouth in that weird provocative way girls do. He grinned and stepped closer.

"I mean, you _could _give me a massage…I'm not pressing the idea or anything, but either that or you could be in a play with me, and you'd be all the way forgiven."

"The sad part is that you're serious, aren't you?" He laughed, but nodded. "I'm not into acting, Professor Night. So, no."

"What about the massage?"

"I just kicked you in your jaw at the speed of light and laid you flat on your back earlier. Do you honestly trust me to massage you in your blind range?" He thought for a second then nodded with a smirk. I rolled my eyes and sighed. "You Americans are so naïve. It is sad. Amusing, but sad none the less. Was there something in particular you wanted from me that brought you here or did you just miss me?" I said sarcastically, turning back to the tree and raising my bow and arrow, angling it at the center of the tree.

"Both." I gave him a look, to which he smirked, then turned back to my target. "Thanatos asked me to look into this whole mark business. She, as well as I and the rest of the school, is curious as to what it means. I mean, we've seen some crazy shit here, and we've even recently gotten basically a community of red vampyres, but _silver_? That's a new one. Especially since you're the only one and we haven't gotten insight or warning in a while." I released the arrow and sent it dead in the middle of the trunk of the tree before turning to Erik.

"So, what, I am like a science experiment?"

"No. I'm just supposed to study you, take notes, figure you out."

"Like a science experiment?"

"_No_. Like a case study." I rolled my eyes and set up my bow and arrow again before aiming at a tree further off.

"I feel as though you have ulterior motives, Professor Night. Ulterior motives that could get you into a lot of trouble," I noted before concentrating on my target.

"My only motive is to figure you out."

"I doubt you are speaking of my mark." I released the bow and it went straight into the heart of the tree. I turned back to Erik and he had a grin on his face and amusement in his eyes. "You will have a hard time trying to "figure me out". I am quite complex, no pun intended. I have yet to know my true self, myself."

"Well, that explains why you keep denying your attraction to me." I raised an eyebrow. Where did _that_ come from?

"I am sure it is normal for you to believe such a thing. It is common that women feel this way towards you. You are, apparently, the eye-candy of this school, shown by the students in your class and the roundabout gossip that travels through every table of girls in the cafeteria, but I am not attracted to you. For one, I do not know you. And you keep popping up, so it is a little hard to say whether or not I am attracted to you. I enjoy the chase, but apparently, so do you seeing as you can't stay away from me."

"I won't deny that I'm attracted to you. Denial is _your_ cover-up, and a bad one, too. My motives are clear. Yours, on the other hand, are being kept behind your wall of denial." I shot my last arrow with so much force, it flew faster than the others and rammed into the other arrow of the further tree and split it, splinters of wood flying. I turned to Erik and moved closer to him, pacing around him seductively, shocking him.

"I warn you, Professor Night, your motives will get you into trouble. I come from danger, I live it, I breathe it. I thrive in destruction and pain. I am a dangerous girl and, though it may not seem so, I don't like you. You are arrogant and narcissistic. And when I do not like someone, I am very hard to deal with and read. So, unless you are completely versatile, I suggest you stay as far away from me as immortally possible." I stopped behind him and moved close to his ear, whispering, "Because if you step out of line again, I promise you, I will gut you like a pig and drill a hole into that pretty little head of yours and watch you bleed out and scream in utter agony." I smirked and kissed his cheek before walking away to take all of the arrows from the trees and put everything away. Stark jogged over then and smiled, but his smile faltered once he saw Erik's expression.

"Erik? You alright, man?" I watched Erik with a smirk and a faux concern and he nodded.

"Uh, yeah, I just…I just remembered something. I gotta go." Then he was gone. Stark watched him then shook his head.

"Whatever. He's having his own internal problems," Stark said then he looked at me. "Nice shooting, by the way. I saw you earlier. You're really good." I shrugged then put all the supplies back. "Anyways, guess what." I finished and turned to him with a smirk. His smirk made me get both excited and nervous.

"What…?"

"I found out who your mentor and roommate are."

"Great. Can I meet them? Who are they?"

"Well, you have the best mentor in the history of mentors."

"Who?"

"Me!" I stared at him for two seconds then we both burst into laughter. "It's very nice to meet you, Vicky, I'm James Stark, your mentor for the next 4 years here at the House of Night. Well, that is unless one of us croaks before then." I rolled my eyes as we started walking.

"Wow. Thank you for being so optimistic."

"Anytime. That's what I'm here for."

"What about my roommate?"

"Aneesa. She's been waiting to meet you, too. I've seen her several times and I've seen you, but never at the same time. But it's okay. I'm positive that after you meet each other, you'll be together 24/7 if you can help it." I smiled and hurried behind him, anxious to meet Aneesa. I very seldom like many people, but the way everyone was making Aneesa out to be, she seemed like a really nice person. He stopped at a building and I looked at him. "This is it. The girl's dorms. I'm not technically allowed inside here, but the guard at the front desk should be able to tell you where to go."

"Okay, thank you."

"No problem. Will you be okay?" I looked up at the building and smiled.

"I think so. I shouldn't have many problems. I will be fine."

"Okay. Here's my number and if you need anything, just call me," he said as he gave me a piece of paper with his number on it. "I usually always answer, but in the case that I don't, go to Thanatos for anything major, alright?" I nodded. "Great. I gotta go. The sun's coming up. I'll be back here tomorrow to give you a quick tour before class."

"Alright."

"Cool. See you," then he jogged off. I looked up at the building again before walking forward and inside the building. It was…just beautiful. It was like a castle. Kinda extravagant yet elegant. Like it was an actual castle meant for a queen with big pretty chandeliers and gaslights like it was ancient. It was—

"May I help you?" a voice asked. I turned quickly and found a desk with a young woman with jet black hair pulled back into a bun and the sapphire filled crescent mark on her forehead. Her brown eyes were set on me, analyzing me, but she had a friendly smile on. Her eyes found my mark and stayed trained on it.

"I'm Victoria Volcov. A new student. I'm trying to find my room. My roommate is—"

"Right here!" I turned again at the sound of a light Indian accent and found a pretty lightly tanned girl with bright friendly brown eyes and shiny dark hair that fell below her shoulders. She was wearing a pretty yellow beaded sari that went perfect with her tanned skin and cute yellow flats. She was smiling at me and extended her hand to me. "Hi, I'm Aneesa. It's so nice to meet you, Victoria. I've been waiting to meet you all day." I smiled back at her and shook her hand, but then she pulled me into a hug. She was about my height too. And how could I forget the unmistakable bright sapphire crescent in the center of her forehead? "Oh my gosh, you're so pretty. You're just…absolutely everything I expected but at the same time nothing I expected. It's great. Oh, and…I hope you didn't mind, I, uh, put your things away for you earlier. I just thought it was a nice gesture, but I also didn't want you to think I was some creepy weirdo stalker girl and I'm talking too much and now I'll shut up." She said all of this fast in one long run-on sentence and I laughed. "Sorry. I'm just really excited to have you a roommate now."

"Well, I'm glad to finally meet you, too."

"Ooooh! You have an accent. That is…Russian, right?" I nodded and she took a deep breath with a sigh. "Again, sorry. I'm not always like this. I'm really chills, but I had coffee a few minutes ago and I'm kinda excited, so I'm acting like a weirdo."

"It's fine."

"Anyways, that's okay, Helen. I'll take it from here," she said to the lady at the front desk, who smiled and nodded. "Come on. I'll take you to see our room. It's really nice." I let her lead me upstairs and down a never ending hallway until she stopped in front of a turquoise painted door with sapphire and silver crescent marks painted all over it. "I painted this like this a while back when I first got the dorm. I had this dream about it every night and kept drawing it unconsciously and I just decided it must mean something and I just…painted the door. I was in trouble, but it turned out okay, I guess. Now I see why the silver crescents. It suits you."

"Thank you." She nodded and opened the door. It was gorgeous. There was this whole Moroccan thing going on and there were colors and dark turquoise walls with Arabic written in gold on them over the beds only like and there were colorful striped drapes covering the ceiling. A turquoise and gold archway separated my area of the room from Aneesa's area kinda like a door and there was a big floor length orange drape pulled aside that probably would be taken down for privacy as a makeshift door. There was also living room type area separated by an archway that was dark turquoise and gold. The living room area was painted purple with light orange curtains over the windows and wooden frame protectors. There was also a long burgundy couch covered in pretty pillows and a pair of smaller burgundy chairs to match that were all in a circular type way to surround a long wooden table with a bunch of candles and pretty small plates and little knick knacks. There was even a little area by an unusual fir place made with a book shelf full of books and a few colorful pillows to sit on and a small table with a tray with two Moroccan tea cups and a colorful metal tea kettle on it. It was absolutely amazing.

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"Oh my gosh, this is amazing, Aneesa."

"Thanks. I hope you don't mind, I put your things away. All your knick knacks and pictures are on your dressers and I put all your clothes away, too. I thought it'd help, you know, make living here easier."

"You did all of this?" I asked in shock.

"Well, my brother and husband helped with making the arches, but everything else, yes. Do you like it?"

"I love it! Aneesa…this is perfect. How did you…"

"Well, last year, my husband and I—"

"Wait, wait. Husband?"

"Oh, yeah. Early marriage type thing. Well…not necessarily. It's kinda complicated." I nodded, remembering my father trying to get me to marry some guy named Dimitre back in Siberia at only 15. I know right. Fathers. "Anyways, we went on this trip to Morocco for a mini vacation and I just loved the culture. It was so fun and vibrant and colorful and I feel in love with the architecture and styling and themes, so I decided, why not make the room here as vibrant and fun yet still elegant and stylish as possible. I mean, we'll be here for 4 years and this is our room until then, so why not make the best of it. I'm kinda just breaking all of the rules. Painting the door, building architecture. It's really funny how I haven't been expelled and sent to another school yet." I walked around and found another door other than the closets. "The bathroom," she said with a smile. "I cut out the archway in the window, too. It's filled with colorful glass, though." I walked in and oh my gosh, I think I'm in love. The bathroom was Moroccan themed too with purple walls, but tiny colorful tiles along them in the shower and around the entire bathroom like a middle rim. The floors were silver and cold like metal and there was a colorful tiled part in front of the shower. There was a little step-like part before you stepped up into the shower, which had the glass doors, and on that step were 4 lit candles letting in a soothing herbal-ly fruit aroma. There were draping purple strings that could be set as a curtain surrounding the entrance way that could be pulled closed in front of the door in case you were, I don't know, changing or wanted a little privacy or something. There were a few round orange, pink, turquoise and green chairs and a long orange chaise as well as a black and silver table with a small silver plate of turquoise and silver flower petals that gave off a honey smell. There were two dark wood sinks with a mirror above them both on either side of a shiny purple 2 drawer cabinet that had a silver ball candle holder with an orange essence candle in it lit and a few little kits I'm guessing housed make-up. There was, indeed, a cut out in a cool, unusual shape filled with colorful stained glass and Jesus on a fucking crutch the toilet was gold. The friggin toilet was actually gold. I'm at a loss of words. I walked back into the bedroom and found Aneesa brushing her hair in front of the colorful mirror on her side of the room. She smiled at me once she saw me. "So?"

"You are amazing. I can't believe you did all of this. It's unbelievable."

"Well, thank you. I was hoping you'd like it. I wasn't sure if I was being kinda inconsiderate by decorating the entire room, but I also didn't wanna seem rude by only decorating my side or anything, so…yeah. I'm glad you like it. So, have you gotten to meet people around and all?" she asked as she turned to me. I hadn't realized she was dressed in pajamas until then.

"No, not really. Well, I got to meet Stark's friends and all, but that's about it."

"That won't work. They don't live here on campus like us. You have to find mingle room with people who stay here so late nights won't be lonely," she said with a joking smile. "I'm having a little movie night downstairs with a few of my friends. Will you come, too?"

"Uh…sure, I guess."

"Great! So, go ahead and change into your pajamas then we can head upstairs. They stay up on the second third floor. But we're just gonna go up to meet them. We're watching the movies in the lounge downstairs. I nodded and went and showered before dressing in a pair of black and white pajamas before following Aneesa upstairs. We were met by 5 other girls at the top, who all smiled.

"Hey, Neesa. Is this your roommate?" one of the girls, a pretty girl with thick curly dark hair and eyes asked.

"Yeah. This is Victoria. Vicky, this is Cassandra, The twins, Kai and Miko, that's Brielle and that's Liana." We all waved as I matched everyone's names with their faces. We went downstairs and engaged in a little conversation while we watched _Glitter_. Cassandra is the curly haired one that spoke first, and she seems to be the really leader type, the twins, of course, Kai and Miko, are Vietnamese, but were born right here in Oklahoma, and are the silly, bubbly ones, Brielle is the mixed breed with wavy black hair and brown eyes, the tomboy of the group, and Liana has short brown hair at her shoulders with bangs and silver eyes. She's really shy and soft-spoken. Aneesa is definitely the intellectual one that keeps everyone calm and I fit in as the one that is capable of kicking ass while also, apparently, getting anything I want if I just ask. Aneesa and the others said they'd heard a lot about me within the few short hours I'd been here, so maybe I'd try that whole "getting what I want" thing out on someone. I quickly analyzed everyone and noticed little instances of attitude from a few, but only in the heated argument about Mariah Carey's acting skills. This is an okay crowd. We're kinda like a perfect cliché group. I like it at House of Night already.

Kai & Miko:

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Cassandra:

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Brielle:

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Liana:

**Alrighty, boring, but, a fill in on what's happening. I promise it'll be more exciting next time. Anyways, R&R! xoxo *Starr***


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